Anyone ever figure out why it was cut up so readily?
As I said, there is a very good biological reason the protein is unstable. Degradation is the main mechanism of down-activation of this protein once it has been activated; its function is necessary, but absolutely must be turned off once it has fulfilled its function. Its continued activity is lethal. This protein is the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, which was first identified for its role in mediating dioxin related toxicity.
As for how it degraded so rapidly despite every effort to prevent degradation--I just don't know. You would think that boiling in a beta-mercaptoethanol/SDS buffer would deactivate any protease that might be present, but no!
“As for how it degraded so rapidly despite every effort to prevent degradation—I just don’t know.”
That was my question because you are right about how weird that is.
It’s intriguing.