# Cellular plasticity: a double-edged sword driving malignant transformation and adaptive remodeling in stem cells

## TL;DR

This review explores how cellular plasticity helps stem cells adapt but can also lead to cancer progression and resistance to treatment.

## Contribution

The paper highlights the dual role of cellular plasticity in both normal and cancerous contexts, offering insights into its molecular mechanisms and therapeutic potential.

## Key findings

- Cellular plasticity enables stem cells to adapt through migration and differentiation.
- Cancer cells exploit plasticity for malignant transformation and therapeutic resistance.
- Targeting plasticity presents a novel but challenging anti-cancer strategy.

## Abstract

This review systematically examines the dual roles of cellular plasticity in stem cell biology. Stem cells leverage their inherent plasticity to achieve adaptive tissue remodeling, including migration, differentiation, and microenvironment interactions during development, regeneration, and homeostasis maintenance. However, this property can also be hijacked by cancer cells, particularly cancer stem cells, as a key mechanism for malignant transformation, invasion, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance. This review will delve into the molecular foundations of cellular plasticity, such as cytoskeletal dynamics, nuclear plasticity, and cell junctional plasticity, analyzing the regulatory similarities and differences between physiological remodeling and pathological transformation. Finally, we will explore the potential and challenges of targeting cellular plasticity as a novel anti-cancer strategy.