Book excerpt: This chapter provides evidence that minipig may be an optimal large animal model for human translational TMJ studies. Chapter 3 presents a comprehensive study that accomplishes the following: 1) It identifies a strategy for the development of allogeneic, biomimetic TMJ neotissue from minipig costal chondrocytes, using scaffold-free tissue-engineering and self-assembling process. 2) It addresses an urgent need for development of TMJ disc disease model in a large, skeletally mature animal. 3) It describes a novel strategy for surgical fixation of engineered tissue in the orthotopic environment. 4) It provides salient findings from an in vivo study evaluating the safety and efficacy of the tissue-engineered implants to repair TMJ disc defects in minipigs. Chapter 4 is a concise review discussing dermis as an alternative source of adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). The chapter first outlines the embryological development of human dermis stressing out the fact that although histologically similar, dermis in distinct anatomic locations has different developmental origin. Further, the chapter covers and compares different strategies utilized by various researchers to isolate and purify the MSC from dermis. Importantly, methods applied widely are evaluated for their accuracy in demonstrating stemness of these cells. The chapter culminates in summarizing applications of dermal MSC for tissue-engineering and regenerative cell therapies currently developed for various human pathologies, and providing future directions that would benefit the field. In summary, this dissertation delineates the cumulative progression of studies providing a successful platform for evaluation of novel tissue-engineering solutions for TMJ disc regeneration. The work begins with a comprehensive review of the disease, advantages, and limitations of the current treatment modalities and culminates in the demonstration of a novel strategy for disc regeneration in vivo. This work provides a solid foundation for future assessment of regenerative strategies directed at more advanced degenerative states of TMJ disc or larger, full thickness perforations. Furthermore, this platform can be optimized for regeneration of other fibrocartilaginous structures, such as the meniscus of the stifle joint and intervertebral disc.