Cheek Cell Reflection

CHEEK CELL PREPARATION AND OBSERVATION BY FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY TECHNIQUE

UMMI MASYITAH BINTI ABDUL RAZAK

School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Applied Science,

Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

*E-mail: [e-mail]

ABSTRACT

The general structure of the human cheek cell is observed by fluorescence microscope. Cheek cells are animal cells and can be obtained by scraping the lining of the mouth by using the toothpick. Samples have been stained with different filters of fluorescent microscope to identify the different organelles and structures of the cheek cells. Initially, bright field image used to locate the cells than followed by other stains of Hoecsht, FITC and Rhodamine to visualize the detail structures of the cheek cell such as the nucleus and mitochondria. Abundant of cheek cell has been observed but the quality of the image is slightly poor as there is much of debris. Washing steps should be done thoroughly to get the best image.

Key words: cheek cell, fluorescence microscope, Hoecsht, FITC, Rhodamine

INTRODUCTION

Cheek cells are epithelial cells which easily scratched from the inner part of the mouth. Cheek cell can be swabbed in order to extract the DNA rather than using the blood (Freeman et al., 1997). They are animal cells with flat structure and some of the organelles can be observed under microscope (Flinn Scientific Inc., 2013). The cells easily can be obtained by scraping the lining of the mouth by using