Catabolic bacterial microcompartments (BMC), or metabolosomes, are self-assembling structures formed by enzymes enclosed by porous protein shells. They provide a specialised environment inside bacterial cells separating a short catabolic pathway with reactive or toxic intermediates from the cytoplasm. Substrates for microcompartment metabolism like ethanolamine and 1,2-propanediol are constantly produced in the human intestine by bacterial metabolism of food or host cell components. Enteric pathogens gain a competitive advantage in the intestine by metabolising these substrates, an advantage enhanced by the host inflammatory response. They exploit the intestinal specificity of signature metabolosome substrates by adopting substrate sensors and regulators encoded by BMC operons for governance of non-metabolic processes in pathogenesis. In turn, products of microcompartment metabolism regulate the host immune system.

分解代谢细菌微区室 (BMC) 或代谢体是由多孔蛋白质外壳包围的酶形成的自组装结构。它们在细菌细胞内提供了一个专门的环境，将具有反应性或毒性中间体的短分解代谢途径与细胞质分开。微室代谢的底物如乙醇胺和 1,2-丙二醇在人体肠道中通过食物或宿主细胞成分的细菌代谢不断产生。肠道病原体通过代谢这些底物在肠道中获得竞争优势，宿主炎症反应增强了这一优势。他们通过采用 BMC 操纵子编码的底物传感器和调节剂来控制发病机制中的非代谢过程，从而利用标志性代谢体底物的肠道特异性。反过来，