title: Stem cell plasticity. Plasticity of epithelial stem cells in tissue regeneration.
abstract: Tissues rely upon stem cells for homeostasis and repair. Recent studies show that the fate and multilineage potential of epithelial stem cells can change depending on whether a stem cell exists within its resident niche and responds to normal tissue homeostasis, whether it is mobilized to repair a wound, or whether it is taken from its niche and challenged to de novo tissue morphogenesis after transplantation. In this Review, we discuss how different populations of naturally lineage-restricted stem cells and committed progenitors can display remarkable plasticity and reversibility and reacquire long-term self-renewing capacities and multilineage differentiation potential during physiological and regenerative conditions. We also discuss the implications of cellular plasticity for regenerative medicine and for cancer.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Biologie Humaine et Moléculaire (IRIBHM), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels B-1070, Belgium. Walloon Excellence in Life Sciences and Biotechnology (WELBIO), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels B-1070, Belgium. fuchslb@rockefeller.edu cedric.blanpain@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: Cédric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blanpain
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA. fuchslb@rockefeller.edu cedric.blanpain@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fuchs
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D063646:Carcinogenesis / Q000473:pathology; D019070:Cell Lineage; D058948:Cell Tracking; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D012038:Regeneration; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000639:trends; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D014945:Wound Healing