Generation of the Ci1 Reporter Mouse Strain with Enhanced Fluorescence for Tissue Clearing Applications
Manyu Chen1,3 · Youqi Li1,2,3 · Juan Huang3 · Yilong Wang2,3 · Hu Zhao1,3
1 School of Basic Medical Sciences, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, China
2 Department of Neurology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100070, China
3 Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 102206, China
Abstract
The advancement of tissue clearing technology has significantly propelled neuroscience research. Nevertheless, the fluorescent proteins used in traditional transgenic mouse strains were not specifically optimized for tissue clearing procedures, resulting in a substantial decrease in fluorescent intensity after clearing. In this study, we developed the Ci1 reporter mouse strain (where Ci stands for the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, CIBR) based on the bright red fluorescent protein mScarlet. The Ci1 reporter exhibits no fluorescence leakage in various organs or tissue types and can be readily crossed with multiple tissue-specific Cre lines. Compared to the Ai14 mouse strain, the Ci1 reporter strain demonstrates lower non-specific leakage, stronger fluorescence intensity in different tissues, and better preservation of fluorescence following tissue clearing treatment. The creation of the Ci1 reporter provides a more effective tool for both neuroscience and other biomedical research applications.
Keywords
Reporter mouse strain; MScarlet fuorescent protein; TdTomato
