Patent ID: 7052910

Claim:
A method of generating an in vitro insulin resistant skeletal muscle cell culture model comprising the steps of: culturing myocytes in a serum containing medium; isolatins said myocytes from said serum containing medium; culturing said isolated myocytes in an serum-free medium in the presence of insulin for a period of time sufficient to allow differentiation of said myocytes into insulin-resistant myotubes; comparing the level of tyrosine phosohorylation of at least one of insulin receptor (IR) and insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) of myotubes differentiated in the presence of insulin to the level of tyrosine phosphorylation of at least one of IR and IRS-1 of control myotubes differentiated in the absence of insulin, wherein a reduction in stimulation of tyrosine phosphorylation in myotubes differentiated in the presence of insulin is an indication of generated insulin-resistant myotubes; and validating the generation of insulin-resistant myotubes by administering a anti-diabetic agent to the myotubes exhibiting reduced tyrosine phosphorylation of IR and IRS-1, wherein increased tyrosine phosphorylation of at least one of IR and IRS-1 upon exposure to said anti-diabetic agent validates the generation of insulin-resistant cells.