Short macrocyclic peptides in sponge genomes.

Sponges (Porifera) contain many peptide-specialized metabolites with potent biological activities and significant roles in shaping marine ecology. It is well established that symbiotic bacteria produce bioactive "sponge" peptides, both on the ribosome (RiPPs) and nonribosomally. Here, we demonstrate that sponges themselves also produce many bioactive macrocyclic peptides, such as phakellistatins and related proline-rich macrocyclic peptides (PRMPs). Using the Stylissa carteri sponge transcriptome, methods were developed to find sequences encoding 46 distinct RiPP-type core peptides, of which ten encoded previously identified PRMP sequences. With this basis set, the genome and transcriptome of the sponge Axinella corrugata was interrogated to find 35 PRMP precursor peptides encoding 31 unique core peptide sequences. At least 11 of these produced cyclic peptides that were present in the sponge and could be characterized by mass spectrometry, including stylissamides A-D and seven previously undescribed compounds. Precursor peptides were encoded in the A. corrugata genome, confirming their animal origin. The peptides contained signal peptide sequences and highly repetitive recognition sequence-core peptide elements with up to 25 PRMP copies in a single precursor. In comparison to sponges without PRMPs, PRMP sponges are incredibly enriched in potentially secreted polypeptides, with >23,000 individual signal peptide encoding genes found in a single transcriptome. The similarities between PRMP biosynthetic genes and neuropeptides in terms of their biosynthetic logic suggest a fundamental biology linked to circular peptides, possibly indicating a widespread and underappreciated diversity of signaling peptide post-translational modifications across the animal kingdom.

Disordered regions in proteusin peptides guide post-translational modification by a flavin-dependent RiPP brominase.

To biosynthesize ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs), enzymes recognize and bind to the N-terminal leader region of substrate peptides which enables catalytic modification of the C-terminal core. Our current understanding of RiPP leaders is that they are short and largely unstructured. Proteusins are RiPP precursor peptides that defy this characterization as they possess unusually long leaders. Proteusin peptides have not been structurally characterized, and we possess scant understanding of how these atypical leaders engage with modifying enzymes. Here, we determine the structure of a proteusin peptide which shows that unlike other RiPP leaders, proteusin leaders are preorganized into a rigidly structured region and a smaller intrinsically disordered region. With residue level resolution gained from NMR titration experiments, the intermolecular peptide-protein interactions between proteusin leaders and a flavin-dependent brominase are mapped onto the disordered region, leaving the rigidly structured region of the proteusin leader to be functionally dispensable. Spectroscopic observations are biochemically validated to identify a binding motif in proteusin peptides that is conserved among other RiPP leaders as well. This study provides a structural characterization of the proteusin peptides and extends the paradigm of RiPP modification enzymes using not only unstructured peptides, but also structured proteins as substrates.

Pseudobulbiferamides: Plasmid-Encoded Ureidopeptide Natural Products with Biosynthetic Gene Clusters Shared Among Marine Bacteria of Different Genera.

Ureidopeptidic natural products possess a wide variety of favorable pharmacological properties. In addition, they have been shown to mediate core physiological functions in producer bacteria. Here, we report that similar ureidopeptidic natural products with conserved biosynthetic gene clusters are produced by different bacterial genera that coinhabit marine invertebrate microbiomes. We demonstrate that a Microbulbifer strain isolated from a marine sponge can produce two different classes of ureidopeptide natural products encoded by two different biosynthetic gene clusters that are positioned on the bacterial chromosome and on a plasmid. The plasmid encoded ureidopeptide natural products, which we term the pseudobulbiferamides (5-8), resemble the ureidopeptide natural products produced by Pseudovibrio, a different marine bacterial genus that is likewise present in marine sponge commensal microbiomes. Using imaging mass spectrometry, we find that the two classes of Microbulbifer-derived ureidopeptides occupy different physical spaces relative to the bacterial colony, perhaps implying different roles for these two compound classes in Microbulbifer physiology and environmental interactions.

A Leader-Guided Substrate Tolerant RiPP Brominase Allows Suzuki-Miyaura Cross-Coupling Reactions for Peptides and Proteins.

Bioorthogonal derivatization of peptides and proteins enables investigations into their biological function and allows for exploitation of their therapeutic potential, among other varied deliverables. Herein, we describe a marine halogenating enzyme-assisted bioconjugation strategy in which an N-terminal leader peptide guides bromination of a C-terminal Trp residue in genetically encoded peptides and proteins, setting up further Trp arylation by Suzuki-Miyaura reactions. The bromination and subsequent cross-coupling reactions are residue-specific and regiospecific for the indole-6 position, occur under mild aqueous conditions, and do not require any modification of other Trp residues in the substrate peptide and/or protein. Workflows described herein demonstrate the applicability of halogenating enzymes in bioorthogonal conjugation chemistry.

Biosynthesis-Guided Discovery and Engineering of α-Pyrone Natural Products from Type I Polyketide Synthases.

Natural products containing the α-pyrone moiety are produced by polyketide synthases (PKSs) in bacteria, fungi, and plants. The conserved biosynthetic logic for the production of the α-pyrone moiety involves the cyclization of a triketide intermediate which also off-loads the polyketide from the activating thioester. In this study, we show that truncating a tetraketide natural product producing PKS assembly line allows for a thioesterase-independent off-loading of an α-pyrone polyketide natural product, one which we find to be natively present in the extracts of the bacterium that otherwise furnishes the tetraketide natural product. By engineering the truncated PKS in vitro, we demonstrate that a ketosynthase (KS) domain with relaxed substrate selectivity when coupled with in trans acylation of polyketide extender units can expand the chemical space of α-pyrone polyketide natural products. Findings from this study point toward heterologous intermolecular protein-protein interactions being detrimental to the efficiency of engineered PKS assembly lines.

Discovery and Biosynthesis of Ureidopeptide Natural Products Macrocyclized via Indole N-acylation in Marine Microbulbifer spp. Bacteria.

Commensal bacteria associated with marine invertebrates are underappreciated sources of chemically novel natural products. Using mass spectrometry, we had previously detected the presence of peptidic natural products in obligate marine bacteria of the genus Microbulbifer cultured from marine sponges. In this report, the isolation and structural characterization of a panel of ureidohexapeptide natural products, termed the bulbiferamides, from Microbulbifer strains is reported wherein the tryptophan side chain indole participates in a macrocyclizing peptide bond formation. Genome sequencing identifies biosynthetic gene clusters encoding production of the bulbiferamides and implicates the involvement of a thioesterase in the indolic macrocycle formation. The structural diversity and widespread presence of bulbiferamides in commensal microbiomes of marine invertebrates point toward a possible ecological role for these natural products.

Recent Updates on Corticosteroid-Induced Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Theranostic Advancements through Gene Editing Tools.

The vast use of corticosteroids (CCSs) globally has led to an increase in CCS-induced neuropsychiatric disorders (NPDs), a very common manifestation in patients after CCS consumption. These neuropsychiatric disorders range from depression, insomnia, and bipolar disorders to panic attacks, overt psychosis, and many other cognitive changes in such subjects. Though their therapeutic importance in treating and improving many clinical symptoms overrides the complications that arise after their consumption, still, there has been an alarming rise in NPD cases in recent years, and they are seen as the greatest public health challenge globally; therefore, these potential side effects cannot be ignored. It has also been observed that many of the neuronal functional activities are regulated and controlled by genomic variants with epigenetic factors (DNA methylation, non-coding RNA, and histone modeling, etc.), and any alterations in these regulatory mechanisms affect normal cerebral development and functioning. This study explores a general overview of emerging concerns of CCS-induced NPDs, the effective molecular biology approaches that can revitalize NPD therapy in an extremely specialized, reliable, and effective manner, and the possible gene-editing-based therapeutic strategies to either prevent or cure NPDs in the future.

Limited Metabolomic Overlap between Commensal Bacteria and Marine Sponge Holobionts Revealed by Large Scale Culturing and Mass Spectrometry-Based Metabolomics: An Undergraduate Laboratory Pedagogical Effort at Georgia Tech.

Sponges are the richest source of bioactive organic small molecules, referred to as natural products, in the marine environment. It is well established that laboratory culturing-resistant symbiotic bacteria residing within the eukaryotic sponge host matrix often synthesize the natural products that are detected in the sponge tissue extracts. However, the contributions of the culturing-amenable commensal bacteria that are also associated with the sponge host to the overall metabolome of the sponge holobiont are not well defined. In this study, we cultured a large library of bacteria from three marine sponges commonly found in the Florida Keys. Metabolomes of isolated bacterial strains and that of the sponge holobiont were compared using mass spectrometry to reveal minimal metabolomic overlap between commensal bacteria and the sponge hosts. We also find that the phylogenetic overlap between cultured commensal bacteria and that of the sponge microbiome is minimal. Despite these observations, the commensal bacteria were found to be a rich resource for novel natural product discovery. Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics provided structural insights into these cryptic natural products. Pedagogic innovation in the form of laboratory curricula development is described which provided undergraduate students with hands-on instruction in microbiology and natural product discovery using metabolomic data mining strategies.

A Nonfunctional Halogenase Masquerades as an Aromatizing Dehydratase in Biosynthesis of Pyrrolic Polyketides by Type I Polyketide Synthases.

The bacterial modular type I polyketide synthases (PKSs) typically furnish nonaromatic lactone and lactam natural products. Here, by the complete in vitro enzymatic production of the polyketide antibiotic pyoluteorin, we describe the biosynthetic mechanism for the construction of an aromatic resorcylic ring by a type I PKS. We find that the pyoluteorin type I PKS does not produce an aromatic product, rather furnishing an alicyclic dihydrophloroglucinol that is later enzymatically dehydrated and aromatized. The aromatizing dehydratase is encoded in the pyoluteorin biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC), and its presence is conserved in other BGCs encoding production of pyrrolic polyketides. Sequence similarity and mutational analysis demonstrates that the overall structure and position of the active site for the aromatizing dehydratase is shared with flavin-dependent halogenases albeit with a loss in ability to perform redox catalysis. We demonstrate that the post-PKS dehydrative aromatization is critical for the antibiotic activity of pyoluteorin.

A Silent Biosynthetic Gene Cluster from a Methanotrophic Bacterium Potentiates Discovery of a Substrate Promiscuous Proteusin Cyclodehydratase.

Natural product-encoding biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) within microbial genomes far outnumber the known natural products; chemical products from such BGCs remain cryptic. These silent BGCs hold promise not only for the elaboration of new natural products but also for the discovery of useful biosynthetic enzymes. Here, we describe a genome mining strategy targeted toward the discovery of substrate promiscuous natural product biosynthetic enzymes. In the genome of the methanotrophic bacterium Methylovulum psychrotolerans Sph1T, we discover a transcriptionally silent natural product BGC that encoded numerous ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP) natural products. These cryptic RiPP natural products were accessed using heterologous expression of the substrate peptide and biosynthetic enzyme-encoded genes. In line with our genome mining strategy, the RiPP biosynthetic enzymes in this BGC were found to be substrate promiscuous, which allowed us to use them in a combinatorial fashion with a similarly substrate-tolerant cyanobactin biosynthetic enzyme to introduce head-to-tail macrocyclization in the proteusin family of RiPP natural products.

Resolving the Hydride Transfer Pathway in Oxidative Conversion of Proline to Pyrrole.

Thiotemplated pyrrole is a prevailing intermediate in the synthesis of numerous natural products in which the pyrrole is tethered to a carrier protein (CP). Biosynthesis of the pyrrole requires oxidation of an l-proline side chain. Herein, we investigate the biocatalytic mechanism of proline-to-pyrrole synthesis by molecular dynamics simulations, quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics simulations, and electronic structure calculations using the recently reported (Thapa, H. R., et al. Biochemistry 2019, 58, 918) structure of a type II nonribosomal protein synthetase (NRPS) Bmp3-Bmp1 (Oxidase-CP) complex. The substrate (l-proline) is attached to the Bmp1(CP), and the catalytic site is located inside the flavin-dependent oxidase (Bmp3). We show that the FAD isoalloxazine ring is stabilized in the catalytic site of Bmp3 by strong hydrogen bonding with Asn123, Ile125, Ser126, and Thr158. After the initial deprotonation followed by an enamine-imine tautomerization, oxidation of the C2-C3 or C2-N1 bond, through a hydride transfer (from either C3 or N1), is required for the pyrrole synthesis. Computational results indicate that the hydride transfer is more likely to occur from C3 than N1. Additionally, we demonstrate the elasticity in the oxidase active site through enzymatic synthesis of proline derivatives.

New phase therapeutic pursuits for targeted drug delivery in glioblastoma multiforme.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is known as the most aggressive and prevalent brain tumor with a high mortality rate. It is reported in people who are as young as 10 years old to as old as over 70 years old, exhibiting inter and intra tumor heterogeneity. There are several genomic and proteomic investigations that have been performed to find the unexplored potential targets of the drug against GBM. Therefore, certain effective targets have been taken to further validate the studies embarking on the robustness in the field of medicinal chemistry followed by testing in clinical trials. Also, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project has identified certain overexpressed targets involved in the pathogenesis of GBM in three major pathways, i.e., tumor protein 53 (p53), retinoblastoma (RB), and receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK)/rat sarcoma virus (Ras)/phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathways. This review focuses on the compilation of recent developments in the fight against GBM thus, directing future research into the elucidation of pathogenesis and potential cure for GBM. Also, it highlights the potential biomarkers that have undergone extensive research and have promising prognostic and predictive values. Additionally, this manuscript analyses the advent of gene therapy and immunotherapy, unlocking the way to consider treatment approaches other than, or in addition to, conventional chemo-radiation therapies. This review study encompasses all the relevant research studies associated with the pathophysiology, occurrence, diagnostic tools, and therapeutic intervention for GBM. It highlights the evolution of various therapeutic perspectives against GBM from the most conventional form of radiotherapy to the recent advancement of gene/cell/immune therapy. Further, the review focuses on various targeted therapies for GBM including chemotherapy sensitization, radiotherapy, nanoparticles based, immunotherapy, cell therapy, and gene therapy which would offer a comprehensive account for exploring several facets related to GBM prognostics.

Hepatic demethylation of methoxy-bromodiphenyl ethers and conjugation of the resulting hydroxy-bromodiphenyl ethers in a marine fish, the red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, and a freshwater fish, the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus.

Methoxylated bromodiphenyl ethers (MeO-BDEs), marine natural products, can be demethylated by cytochrome P450 to produce hydroxylated bromodiphenyl ethers (OH-BDEs), potentially toxic metabolites that are also formed by hydroxylation of BDE flame retardants. The OH-BDEs may be detoxified by glucuronidation and sulfonation. This study examined the demethylation of 6-MeO-BDE47, 2'-MeO-BDE68 and 4'-MeO-BDE68, in hepatic microsomes from the red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, a marine fish likely to be exposed naturally to MeO-BDEs, and the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, a freshwater fish in which pathways of xenobiotic biotransformation have been studied. We further studied the glucuronidation and sulfonation of the resulting OH-BDEs as well as of 6-OH-2'-MeO-BDE68 in hepatic microsomes and cytosol fractions of these fish. The three studied biotransformation pathways were active in both species, with high individual variability. The range of activities overlapped in the two species. Demethylation of MeO-BDEs, studied in the concentration range 10-500 µM, followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics in both fish species, however enzyme efficiencies were low, ranging from 0.024 to 0.334 µL min.mg protein. Conjugation of the studied OH-BDEs followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics in the concentration ranges 1-50 µM (glucuronidation) or 2.5-100 µM (sulfonation). These OH-BDEs were readily glucuronidated and sulfonated in the fish livers of both species, with enzyme efficiencies one to three orders of magnitude higher than for demethylation of the precursor MeO-BDEs. The relatively low efficiencies of demethylation of the MeO-BDEs, compared with higher efficiencies for OH-BDE conjugation, suggests that MeO-BDEs are more likely than OH-BDEs to bioaccumulate in tissues of exposed fish.

Stereochemical Assignment and Absolute Abundance of Nonproteinogenic Amino Acid Homoarginine in Marine Sponges.

Together with arginine, the nonproteinogenic amino acid homoarginine is a substrate for the production of vasodilator nitric oxide in the human body. In marine sponges, homoarginine has been postulated to serve as a precursor for the biosynthesis of pyrrole-imidazole alkaloid and bromotyrosine alkaloid classes of natural products. The absolute abundance of homoarginine, its abundance relative to arginine, and its stereochemical assignment in marine sponges are not known. Here, using stable isotope dilution mass spectrometry, we quantify the absolute abundances of homoarginine and arginine in marine sponges. We find that the abundance of homoarginine is highly variable and can far exceed the concentration of arginine, even in sponges where incorporation of homoarginine in natural products cannot be rationalized. The [homoarginine]/[arginine] ratio in marine sponges is greater than that in human analytes. By derivatization of sponge extracts with Marfey's reagent and comparison with authentic standards, we determine the l-isomer of homoarginine to be exclusively present in sponges. Our results shed light on the presence of the high abundance of homoarginine in marine sponge metabolomes and provide the foundation to investigate the biosynthetic routes and physiological roles of this nonproteinogenic amino acid in sponge physiology.

Current theranostic approaches for metastatic cancers through hypoxia-induced exosomal packaged cargo.

Tumour cells exhibit numerous defence mechanisms against various therapeutic strategies and help in developing drug resistance. These defence strategies help cancer cells prevent their elimination from an organism and prosper at a specific location. In recent times it's been observed that there is a significant contribution of secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs) from such tumorigenic sites in the development and prognosis of cancer. Amongst the various types of EVs, exosomes behave like biological carriers, play a crucial role in transporting the content between different cells, and had such an underrated defence mode by getting induced due to the hypoxia secreted highly specialised double-membrane structures. These small structure vesicles play a critical part in regulating local microenvironment and intracellular communications, cited by many research studies. Exosomes are a potential carrier of several cargo biomolecules like proteins, lipids, miRNAs, mRNAs etc., facilitating better communication within the microenvironment of cancer cells, enhancing the metastatic rate along with cancer progression. Several studies have extensively researched elucidating exosomes mediated radiation-induced bystander effects: multidrug resistance, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and help cancer cells escape from the immune system apart from playing a critical role in angiogenesis too. Due to its natural tendency to carry different biomolecules, it can also be used to haul chemical drugs and efficiently deliver the drug molecules to the targeted site of cancer. The current review aims to explore the vivid role of hypoxia-induced exosomes in tumour progression along with its application and challenges in cancer therapeutics.

An Obligate Peptidyl Brominase Underlies the Discovery of Highly Distributed Biosynthetic Gene Clusters in Marine Sponge Microbiomes.

Marine sponges are prolific sources of bioactive natural products, several of which are produced by bacteria symbiotically associated with the sponge host. Bacteria-derived natural products, and the specialized bacterial symbionts that synthesize them, are not shared among phylogenetically distant sponge hosts. This is in contrast to nonsymbiotic culturable bacteria in which the conservation of natural products and natural product biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) is well established. Here, we demonstrate the widespread conservation of a BGC encoding a cryptic ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP) in microbiomes of phylogenetically and geographically dispersed sponges from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Detection of this BGC was enabled by mining for halogenating enzymes in sponge metagenomes, which, in turn, allowed for the description of a broad-spectrum regiospecific peptidyl tryptophan-6-brominase which possessed no chlorination activity. In addition, we demonstrate the cyclodehydrative installation of azoline heterocycles in proteusin RiPPs. This is the first demonstration of halogenation and cyclodehydration for proteusin RiPPs and the enzymes catalyzing these transformations were found to competently interact with other previously described proteusin substrate peptides. Within a sponge microbiome, many different generalized bacterial taxa harbored this BGC with often more than 50 copies of the BGC detected in individual sponge metagenomes. Moreover, the BGC was found in all sponges queried that possess high diversity microbiomes but it was not detected in other marine invertebrate microbiomes. These data shed light on conservation of cryptic natural product biosynthetic potential in marine sponges that was not detected by traditional natural product-to-BGC (meta)genome mining.

Enzymatic Synthesis Assisted Discovery of Proline-Rich Macrocyclic Peptides in Marine Sponges.

Proline-rich macrocyclic peptides (PRMPs) are natural products present in geographically and phylogenetically dispersed marine sponges. The large diversity and low abundance of PRMPs in sponge metabolomes precludes isolation and structure elucidation of each individual PRMP congener. Here, using standards developed via biomimetic enzymatic synthesis of PRMPs, a mass spectrometry-based workflow to sequence PRMPs was developed and validated to reveal that the diversity of PRMPs in marine sponges is much greater than that has been realized by natural product isolation-based strategies. Findings are placed in the context of diversity-oriented transamidative macrocyclization of peptide substrates in sponge holobionts.

Gatekeeping Ketosynthases Dictate Initiation of Assembly Line Biosynthesis of Pyrrolic Polyketides.

Assembly line biosynthesis of polyketide natural products involves checkpoints where identities of thiotemplated intermediates are verified before polyketide extension reactions are allowed to proceed. Determining what these checkpoints are and how they operate is critical for reprogramming polyketide assembly lines. Here we demonstrate that ketosynthase (KS) domains can perform this gatekeeping role. By comparing the substrate specificities for polyketide synthases that extend pyrrolyl and halogenated pyrrolyl substrates, we find that KS domains that need to differentiate between these two substrates exercise high selectivity. We additionally find that amino acid residues in the KS active site facilitate this selectivity and that these residues are amenable to rational engineering. On the other hand, KS domains that do not need to make selectivity decisions in their native physiological context are substrate-promiscuous. We also provide evidence that delivery of substrates to polyketide synthases by non-native carrier proteins is accompanied by reduced biosynthetic efficiency.

Presence of Bromotyrosine Alkaloids in Marine Sponges Is Independent of Metabolomic and Microbiome Architectures.

Marine sponge holobionts are prolific sources of natural products. One of the most geographically widespread classes of sponge-derived natural products is the bromotyrosine alkaloids. A distinguishing feature of bromotyrosine alkaloids is that they are present in phylogenetically disparate sponges. In this study, using sponge specimens collected from Guam, the Solomon Islands, the Florida Keys, and Puerto Rico, we queried whether the presence of bromotyrosine alkaloids potentiates metabolomic and microbiome conservation among geographically distant and phylogenetically different marine sponges. A multi-omic characterization of sponge holobionts revealed vastly different metabolomic and microbiome architectures among different bromotyrosine alkaloid-harboring sponges. However, we find statistically significant correlations between the microbiomes and metabolomes, signifying that the microbiome plays an important role in shaping the overall metabolome, even in low-microbial-abundance sponges. Molecules mined from the polar metabolomes of these sponges revealed conservation of biosynthetic logic between bromotyrosine alkaloids and brominated pyrrole-imidazole alkaloids, another class of marine sponge-derived natural products. In light of prior findings postulating the sponge host itself to be the biosynthetic source of bromotyrosine alkaloids, our data now set the stage for investigating the causal relationships that dictate the microbiome-metabolome interconnectedness for marine sponges in which the microbiome may not contribute to natural product biogenesis.IMPORTANCE Our work demonstrates that phylogenetically and geographically distant sponges with very different microbiomes can harbor natural product chemical classes that are united in their core chemical structures and biosynthetic logic. Furthermore, we show that independent of geographical dispersion, natural product chemistry, and microbial abundance, overall sponge metabolomes tightly correlate with their microbiomes.

In-Silico Validation and Fabrication of Matrix Diffusion-Based Polymeric Transdermal Patches for Repurposing Gabapentin Hydrochloride in Neuropathic Pain.

BACKGROUND: Gabapentin (GBP) is an FDA-approved drug for the treatment of partial and secondary generalized seizures, apart from being used for diabetic neuropathic pain. GBP displays a highly intricate mechanism of action and its inhibitory response in elevated antagonism of NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor) receptor and thus, can be repurposed for controlling neuropathic pain. OBJECTIVE: Therefore, in the present study, we have selected hBCATc (humanPyridoxal 5'-phosphate- dependent branched-chain aminotransferase cytosolic) gene that is highly expressed in silico validation through neuropathic stressed conditions. Thereafter, have analysed the GBP as its competitive inhibitor by in silico validation through homology modelling, molecular docking, also predicting its structural alerts and pharmacokinetic suitability through ADMET. However, and GBP was found to be a potential drug in controlling neuropathic pain, still, it has certain critical and pharmacokinetic limitations; therefore, the need for its targeted delivery was required, and the same was attained by designing a GBP loaded transdermal patch (GBP-TDP). METHODS: A suitable and equally efficacious GBP - TDP was developed by a solvent evaporation method using PVP and HPMC in the ratio of 2:1 as a polymer base for reservoir type of TDP. Also, PEG 400 was used as a plasticizer, and PVA (4%) was taken for backing membrane preparation, and then the optimized GBP-TDP was subjected for physical characterization, optimization and ex vivo release kinetics. RESULTS: The results showed desired specifications with uneven and flaky surface appearance giving an avenue for controlled release of the drugs with 92.34 ± 1.43% of drug release in 10 hours, further suggesting that GBP-TDP can be used as an effective tool against diabetic neuropathy pain. CONCLUSION: In this study, we have repurposed Gabapentin to treat diabetic neuropathy and validated the same by conducting a detailed in silico evaluation starting from homology Modelling of the target protein hBCATc, cross verified by the Ramachandran plot analysis with the most favoured region of 92.1% (encompassing 303 residues out of 386).