IFNG and HIV-1 infection: While NK cells are one of the first responders during the acute phase of HIV-1 infection and produce a large amount of IFN-γ [6], chronic infection generates abnormal distribution of subpopulations with the expansion of dysfunctional CD56neg cells [7, 8], reduction of the aNKRs expression [9], down-regulation of cytokine production and reduction of stored perforin and granzyme A. cART is only partially able to recover NK cell distribution, cytotoxicity and IFN-γ expression [10, 11], which likely prevents them from clearing the latent reservoir after viral reactivation [12].