Mapping carbohydrates

Glucose under a microscope. Photo: Kanthida Thongsakun / Shutterstock

Sugar may seem simple. However, in living cells, sugars – carbohydrates – are some of the most complex molecules in nature. They act as chemical signals on cell surfaces and play a key role in biological processes, from immune response to fermentation. Decoding their structure is like deciphering a foreign language, and that undertaking has been a key research focus for the chemist Klaus Bock (b.1944).

Bock’s research has been focusing on the molecular structure of carbohydrates and their interactions with proteins. He was one of the first to introduce the systematic use of NMR spectroscopy, a method that uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to detect how the atoms in a molecule are organised.

Explore the book 'From Yeast to Universe'

This chapter is an excerpt from the book 'From Yeast to Universe – Danish Basic Research Supported by the Carlsberg Foundation: 150 Highlights from 150 Years', published by Strandberg Publishing to mark the Carlsberg Foundation’s 150th anniversary. The book offers a kaleidoscopic insight into 150 examples of significant and memorable Danish basic research activities supported by the Carlsberg Foundation over a century and a half. The 150 examples have been selected by 25 Danish researchers.

The method made it possible to determine the structure of carbohydrate chains in a liquid solution and thus to understand how they fold, bond and function biologically. During the 1970s and 1980s, NMR was a relatively new method, but at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Bock became a leading international exponent of its use in carbohydrate chemistry.

In 1984, Bock and his research group had a major breakthrough when they were given access to an advanced NMR instrument in what was then a new form of collaboration between the Carlsberg Foundation and the Danish state’s research councils. This gave the Danish researchers access to instruments that only existed in a few places around the world and helped advance the DTU to a central position in international carbohydrate research.

When, in 1988, the Carlsberg Research Laboratory appointed Bock as head of the chemical department and invested in similar technological equipment, carbohydrate chemistry became an even more prominent research topic for the lab. In his leadership role, Bock added new perspectives to the lab’s strong tradition for protein research.

One of his key contributions was the development of methods for synthesising and analysing glycopeptides: molecules in which sugar and protein are chemically linked. Glycopeptides proved crucial to the understanding of biological functioning and molecular recognition and became an important bridge between chemistry, biology and biotechnology.

Grant

Grant years: 1982–2007 (first and latest) Purpose: Research funding, equipment, laboratory research and leadership, 1988–2007 (annual support for the Carlsberg Research Laboratory)

This work was carried out in close collaboration with, among others, Morten Meldal (b.1954), whose later Nobel Prize in Chemistry also sprang from work carried out at the Carlsberg Research Laboratory.

Bock’s research demonstrated how advanced measuring methods can open up new scientific fields. By making carbohydrates structurally legible, he helped make these complex molecules into a key focus of modern molecular research, with significance that went far beyond the laboratory.

The chapter is written by Asser Pelle.