--- title: "Enzymes that assemble into droplets can speed up cellular reactions" url: https://daily.dev/posts/enzymes-that-assemble-into-droplets-can-speed-up-cellular-reactions-f8spbgm6f source_url: https://news.mit.edu/2026/enzymes-assemble-into-droplets-can-speed-cellular-reactions-0601 type: article source: "MIT News" published: 2026-06-01T15:03:31.331Z updated: 2026-06-01T15:14:16.736Z tags: ["machine-learning"] reading_time: 6 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Enzymes that assemble into droplets can speed up cellular reactions **[MIT News](https://daily.dev/sources/mit)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary MIT researchers have discovered that phase separation — the process by which proteins self-assemble into dense droplets inside cells — plays a critical role in regulating kinase enzymes. Condensing into droplets boosts kinase activity by increasing local enzyme concentration and attracting high levels of ATP, enabling faster phosphorylation reactions. In some cases, droplet formation also changes which targets a kinase phosphorylates, activating different signaling pathways. The study focused on three kinases: FAK, Mst2, and Abl. Notably, overexpression of FAK in cancer cells can trigger droplet formation that keeps pro-growth signals permanently active, potentially driving metastasis. A machine-learning model predicted that roughly 45% of the ~500 human kinases could form such droplets. These findings open new avenues for drug design — drugs that localize to these droplets could reduce off-target effects and more precisely inhibit cancer-related kinase activity. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Single-molecule tracker illuminates workings of cancer-related proteins](https://daily.dev/posts/single-molecule-tracker-illuminates-workings-of-cancer-related-proteins-t11x0ujdt) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Preventing Misfolding by Preventing Folding](https://daily.dev/posts/preventing-misfolding-by-preventing-folding-xeolvnsi5) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Study reveals “two-factor authentication” system that controls microRNA destruction](https://daily.dev/posts/study-reveals-two-factor-authentication-system-that-controls-microrna-destruction-j8kcliswt) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [How AlphaFold is helping scientists engineer more heat-tolerant crops](https://daily.dev/posts/how-alphafold-is-helping-scientists-engineer-more-heat-tolerant-crops-5zyctqxe8) · DeepMind · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [3D-printed devices could streamline the production of drug-delivery microparticles](https://daily.dev/posts/3d-printed-devices-could-streamline-the-production-of-drug-delivery-microparticles-lol9m2c6z) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#machine-learning](https://daily.dev/tags/machine-learning) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/enzymes-that-assemble-into-droplets-can-speed-up-cellular-reactions-f8spbgm6f)