Protein J, consisting of several disulfide bonds, was inject…

Protein J, consisting of several disulfide bonds, was injected IP into a rabbit. After about a week, blood was taken from the rabbit, and left on a counter for about four hours, which made the blood clot. The clotted blood was centrifuged to remove the clots and the remaining liquid was divided into two parts (aliquots). One of the aliquots was first incubated with protein J which had been pretreated with mercaptoethanol, while the second was left unaltered. After an hour, both aliquots were centrifuged to remove any soluble components present and then subjected to electrophoresis. The electrophoretic mobility profile of both aliquots was essentially identical. Which of the following statements below provides the most reasonable explanation for what occurred?