Similar results have been observed in HIV and IAV infection: the HIV tat protein can directly induce DNA damage in B and T lymphocytes via mitochondrial dysfunction during HIV infection [22,24], while a proportion of lymphocyte subpopulations such as CD4+ T and CD19+ B cells can ultimately undergo apoptosis following exposure of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to IAV [49]. Here, TAT is linked to HIV infectious disease.