Biology subjects

Tabachnik, T.

Publications and source records attributed to Tabachnik, T..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Pulsed-laser lensing for phase modulation in electron microscopy

Phase contrast electron microscopy is fundamental for visualizing unstained biological specimens. Advances in electron detection have not yet overcome the low contrast caused by weak scattering. Here, we demonstrate that an orthogonal pulsed laser-electron beam interaction produces a pronounced peak phase shift of 430 radians through ponderomotive defocusing, leading to a maximum angular deflection of 45 {micro}rad. Experiments encompassing a variety of probe pulse energies and pump positions verified the properties of the electron pulses in a range of pulse durations from 5.8 {+/-} 1.9 ps to 13.4 {+/-} 0.9 ps and a width of 15.0 {+/-} 2.6 {micro}m at the interaction region. The stability of the beam was also tested across 10 hours of cumulative acquisition time, with only small variations in laboratory conditions resulting in a gradually shifting baseline measurement. Pulsed laser lensing of the electron beam offers the potential for refinement in phase shift and electron beam shaping with careful consideration to the overlap between laser and electron pulses. Calculations of phase shifts across a wide experimental envelope show that poorly chosen laser parameters can generate large incoherent distributions at both 30 keV and 300 keV. Thus, a delicate balance between laser and electron widths and pulse durations must be struck to adequately achieve uniform phase shifts, particularly when singling out specific beamlets in the back-focal-plane.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2024

Development of an ultrafast pulsed ponderomotive phase plate for cryo-electron tomography

Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) is a powerful modality for resolving cellular structures in their native state. While single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) excels in determining protein structures purified from recombinant or endogenous sources, cryo-ET suffers from low contrast in crowded cellular milieux. A novel experimental approach to enhance contrast in cryo-ET is to manipulate the phase of scattered pulsed electrons using ultrafast pulsed photons. Here, we outline the experimental design of a proof-of-concept electron microscope and demonstrate synchronization between electron packets and laser pulses. Further, we show ultrabright photoemission of electrons from an alloy field emission tip using femtosecond ultraviolet pulses. These experiments pave the way towards exploring the utility of the ponderomotive effect using pulsed radiation to increase phase contrast in cryo-ET of subcellular protein complexes in situ, thus advancing the field of cell biology.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2023

Small-field visual projection neurons detect translational optic flow and support walking control

Animals rely on visual motion for navigating the world, and research in flies has clarified how neural circuits extract information from moving visual scenes. However, the major pathways connecting these patterns of optic flow to behavior remain poorly understood. Using a high-throughput quantitative assay of visually guided behaviors and genetic neuronal silencing, we discovered a region in Drosophilas protocerebrum critical for visual motion following. We used neuronal silencing, calcium imaging, and optogenetics to identify a single cell type, LPC1, that innervates this region, detects translational optic flow, and plays a key role in regulating forward walking. Moreover, the population of LPC1s can estimate the travelling direction, such as when gaze direction diverges from body heading. By linking specific cell types and their visual computations to specific behaviors, our findings establish a foundation for understanding how the nervous system uses vision to guide navigation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Exploration biases how forelimb reaches to a spatial target are learned

The brain can learn to generate actions, such as reaching to a target, using different movement strategies. Understanding how different variables bias which strategies are learned to produce such a reach is important for our understanding of the neural bases of movement. Here we introduce a novel spatial forelimb target task in which perched head-fixed mice learn to reach to a circular target area from a set start position using a joystick. These reaches can be achieved by learning to move into a specific direction or to a specific endpoint location. We find that mice gradually learn to successfully reach the covert target. With time, they refine their initially exploratory complex joystick trajectories into controlled targeted reaches. The execution of these controlled reaches depends on the sensorimotor cortex. Using a probe test with shifting start positions, we show that individual mice learned to use strategies biased to either direction or endpoint-based movements. The degree of endpoint learning bias was correlated with the spatial directional variability with which the workspace was explored early in training. Furthermore, we demonstrate that reinforcement learning model agents exhibit a similar correlation between directional variability during training and learned strategy. These results provide evidence that individual exploratory behavior during training biases the control strategies that mice use to perform forelimb covert target reaches.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Neuromuscular Basis of Drosophila larval escape behavior

When threatened by dangerous or harmful stimuli, animals engage in diverse forms of rapid escape behaviors. In Drosophila larvae, one type of escape response involves C-shaped bending and lateral rolling followed by rapid forward crawling. The sensory circuitry that promotes larval escape has been extensively characterized; however, the motor programs underlying rolling are unknown. Here, we characterize the neuromuscular basis of rolling escape behavior. We used high-speed, volumetric, Swept Confocally-Aligned Planar Excitation (SCAPE) microscopy to image muscle activity during larval rolling. Unlike sequential peristaltic muscle contractions that progress from segment to segment during forward and backward crawling, the muscle activity progresses circumferentially during bending and rolling escape behavior. We propose that progression of muscular contraction around the larvas circumference results in a transient misalignment between weight and the ground support forces, which generates a torque that induces stabilizing body rotation. Therefore, successive cycles of slight misalignment followed by reactive aligning rotation lead to continuous rolling motion. Supporting our biomechanical model, we found that disrupting the activity of muscle groups undergoing circumferential contraction progression lead to rolling defects. We use EM connectome data to identify premotor to motor connectivity patterns that could drive rolling behavior, and perform neural silencing approaches to demonstrate the crucial role of a group of glutamatergic premotor neurons in rolling. Our data reveal body-wide muscle activity patterns and putative premotor circuit organization for execution of the rolling escape response. Significance StatementTo escape from dangerous stimuli, animals execute escape behaviors that are fundamentally different from normal locomotion. The rolling escape behavior of Drosophila larvae consists of C-shaped bending and rolling. However, the muscle contraction patterns that lead to rolling are poorly understood. We find that following the initial body bending, muscles contract in a circumferential wave around the larva as they enter the bend, maintaining unidirectional rolling that resembles cylinder rolling on a surface. We study the structure of motor circuits for rolling, inhibit different motor neurons to determine which muscles are essential for rolling, and propose circuit and biomechanical models for roll generation. Our findings provide insights into how motor circuits produce diverse motor behaviors.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Serotonergic modulation of walking in Drosophila

To navigate complex environments, animals must generate highly robust, yet flexible, locomotor behaviors. For example, walking speed must be tailored to the needs of a particular environment: Not only must animals choose the correct speed and gait, they must also rapidly adapt to changing conditions, and respond to sudden and surprising new stimuli. Neuromodulators, particularly the small biogenic amine neurotransmitters, allow motor circuits to rapidly alter their output by changing their functional connectivity. Here we show that the serotonergic system in the vinegar fly, Drosophilamelanogaster, can modulate walking speed in a variety of contexts and in response to sudden changes in the environment. These multifaceted roles of serotonin in locomotion are differentially mediated by a family of serotonergic receptors with distinct activities and expression patterns.

neuroscience↗