The antimicrobial peptide GK1, a derivative of Cecropin A, shows high antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. To avoid the lethal effects on Escherichia coli host cells during its expression, the GK1 gene was complexed with a modified human proinsulin (mhPI) gene, inserted into the vector pET28a to construct?the recombinant expression plasmid (pET28a-mhPI-GK1) and then transformed into BL21(DE3). A fusion protein was expressed and resulted in insoluble inclusion bodies counting 20% (W/W) of total cellular proteins. Recombinant GK1 was cleaved from the mhPI-GK1 fusion protein by cyanogen bromide (CNBr) and purified by cation exchange chromatography and reverse-phase HPLC. The final concentration of recombinant GK1 was 5.7 mg/L Escherichia coli culture and the purity was above 97%. Its molecular weight measured by Electrospray Ionizsation Mass Spectrometry (ESI-MS) was 2794 D, similar to that of the synthetic GK1. In addition, they have similar antibacterial activity. The results demonstrated that mhPI was capable of mediating high-level GK1 gene expression.