Amyloids
are protein aggregates bearing a highly ordered cross
β structural motif, which may be functional but are mostly pathogenic.
Their formation, deposition in tissues and consequent organ dysfunction
is the central event in amyloidogenic diseases. Such protein aggregation
may be brought about by conformational changes, and much attention
has been directed toward factors like metal binding, post-translational
modifications, mutations of protein etc., which eventually affect
the reactivity and cytotoxicity of the associated proteins. Over the
past decade, a global effort from different groups working on these
misfolded/unfolded proteins/peptides has revealed that the amino acid
residues in the second coordination sphere of the active sites of
amyloidogenic proteins/peptides cause changes in H-bonding pattern
or protein–protein interactions, which dramatically alter the
structure and reactivity of these proteins/peptides. These second
sphere effects not only determine the binding of transition metals
and cofactors, which define the pathology of some of these diseases,
but also change the mechanism of redox reactions catalyzed by these
proteins/peptides and form the basis of oxidative damage associated
with these amyloidogenic diseases. The present review seeks to discuss
such second sphere modifications and their ramifications in the etiopathology
of some representative amyloidogenic diseases like Alzheimer’s
disease (AD), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2Dm), Parkinson’s
disease (PD), Huntington’s disease (HD), and prion diseases.