Previous reports indicated that IFI16 restricts HIV-1 infection trough STING in macrophages (Jakobsen et al., 2013) but promotes HIV-1 induced CD4+ T cells death by pyroptosis and thus may drive HIV-1 pathogenesis (Doitsh et al., 2010; Monroe et al., 2014). The gene discussed is CD4; the disease is HIV-1 infection.