Affinity chromatography matrices and methods of making and using the same

1. An affinity chromatography matrix comprising: a) a solid support; b) a protein ligand bound to the solid support; c) an activating group bound to the solid support which interacts covalently with the protein ligand; and d) an associative group bound to the solid support, wherein the associative group interacts non-covalently with the protein ligand, and wherein the associative group and the activating group are both linked separately to the solid support.

2. The affinity chromatography matrix of claim 1 , wherein the solid support is a bead.

3. The affinity chromatography matrix of claim 2 , wherein the bead is an agarose bead.

4. The affinity chromatography matrix of claim 1 , wherein the associative group is a charged species.

5. The affinity chromatography matrix of claim 4 , wherein the charged species bears a positive charge.

6. The affinity chromatography matrix of claim 4 , wherein the charged species bears a negative charge.

7. The affinity chromatography matrix of claim 1 , wherein the associative group is hydrophobic.

8. The affinity chromatography matrix of claim 1 , wherein the protein ligand is chosen from protein A and protein G.

9. An affinity chromatography matrix comprising: a) an agarose support; b) protein A covalently bound to the agarose support; and c) a charged species, which separately and covalently binds with the solid support and non-covalently interacts with the protein A, wherein at least 10 g/L of protein A is bound to the surface of the agarose support.

10. The matrix of claim 9 , wherein the agarose support is an agarose bead.

11. The matrix of claim 1 , wherein the activating group is selected from the group consisting of cyanogen bromide, an aldehyde, an epoxide, and an activated carboxylic acid.