In neuroscience research, fluorescent reporter systems serve as essential tools for dissecting neural connectivity and tracing cell fate. In 2024, a team led by Kiryl D. Piatkevich at Westlake University developed mBaojin, a high-brightness and highly photostable green fluorescent protein derived from StayGold. In 2025, the group led by Zhifei Fu at Fujian Medical University engineered mYonghong, an ultra-stable monomeric red fluorescent protein exhibiting exceptional chemical, thermal, and photostability. In close collaboration with these teams, the Zhao Hu laboratory at the Chinese Institute for Brain Research (CIBR) leveraged these advanced fluorescent protein tools to develop a series of Ci reporter mouse lines.

These next-generation mouse models are fully comparable to conventional Rosa26-GFP/tdTomato reporter lines in standard applications, while demonstrating pronounced advantages under demanding experimental conditions such as tissue clearing. They enable advanced applications that are challenging for traditional reporters, including tissue clearing, super-resolution imaging, correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM), and organelle-specific targeting. Collectively, these models provide powerful tools for deeper and higher-resolution three-dimensional tissue imaging, particularly for the fine-scale dissection of neural circuits.

在神经科学研究中，荧光报告系统是解析神经连接与追踪细胞命运的核心工具。2024年，西湖大学Kiryl D. Piatkevich团队开发了源自StayGold的高亮度、高光稳定性绿色荧光蛋白mBaojin；2025年，福建医科大学付志飞团队开发了超稳定单体红色荧光蛋白mYonghong，在化学稳定性、热稳定性和光稳定性方面均表现出卓越性能。北京脑科学与类脑研究所（Chinese Institute for Brain Research, CIBR）赵瑚团队与上述团队密切合作，基于这些先进荧光蛋白工具构建并开发了一系列Ci报告基因小鼠。

该系列新型小鼠模型在基础研究应用中可全面对标Rosa26-GFP/tdTomato工具鼠，尤其在耐受组织透明化等高强度处理流程方面展现出显著优势，可胜任传统工具难以完成的组织透明化、超分辨成像、CLEM及细胞器靶向等前沿研究工作。该模型体系为实现更深层次、更高分辨率的三维组织成像，特别是在神经环路的精细结构解析方面，提供了强有力的技术支撑。