Objective To explore the effect of hepatitis B virus (HBV) X protein (HBx) on autotaxin (ATX) expression and its significance. Methods The recombinant eukaryotic expression vector of HBx ,pcD-NA3.1(+)-HBx,and the recombinant luciferase reporter gene vector of ATX promoter,pGL3-ATX,were con-structed and used to co-transfect HepG2 cells to examine the effect of HBx on the activity of ATX promoter. The sta-ble cell expressing HBx,HepG2.HBx,was constructed,and Western blot(WB)was used to detect the effect of HBx on ATX expression. Results The luciferase activity of pcDNA3.1(+)-HBx and pGL3-ATX group was 1.47 times as that of the empty vector cDNA3.1(+)and pGL3-ATX group(P<0.000). WB detection showed that the expression of ATX protein was increased in HepG2.HBx cells,and 1.75 times as that of HepG2 cells(P<0.05). Conclusion HBx can activate ATX promoter and up-regulate ATX expression ,thus suggests that HBV infection might enhance ATX/LPA signaling.