Fig. 1.

Schematic illustration of in situ growth of stoichiometric poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) [poly(OEGMA)] at the N-terminus of myoglobin. First, the N-terminus (glycine) is transformed to an aldehyde through a biomimetic transamination reaction (Mb-CHO). Second, a hydroxylamine-functionalized ATRP initiator (ABM) is attached to the N-terminus, through a reaction between the aldehyde and the hydroxylamine, to form a macroinitiator (Mb-Br). Third, poly(OEGMA) is directly grown from the protein macroinitiator by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP).