Domain

Domains are regions of contiguous polypeptide chain that have been described as compact, local, and semi-independent units. Within a protein, domains can be anything from independant globular units joined only by a flexible length of polypeptide chain, to units which have a very extensive interface. There are a number of algorithms that have been developed to detect domains automatically, some of which have been incorporated into the CATH update protocol. Many domains, however, still have to be determined manually before being classified.

References

The anatomy and taxonomy of protein structure.
Richardson JS
Adv Protein Chem34p167-339(1981)
Parser for protein folding units.
Holm L, Sander C
Proteins19p256-68(1994 Jul)
A procedure for detecting structural domains in proteins.
Swindells MB
Protein Sci4p103-12(1995 Jan)
Identification and analysis of domains in proteins.
Islam SA, Luo J, Sternberg MJ
Protein Eng8p513-25(1995 Jun)