Notably, in Jurkat cells (acute T cell leukemia cell line), HIV-1 Tat was found to preferentially occupy sites within gene promoters and 5′-UTRs and importantly, these associations were conserved in RNA-Seq data showing that Tat not only binds to but also alters the expressions of host genes, specifically genes involved in the cellular immune response. Here, TAT is linked to T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.