TESTING THE EFFECT OF HEMOLYMPH FROM SELECTED INSECT SPECIES ON CELL VIABILITY Teodora Knežić,1 Miloš Avramov,2 Vanja Tatić,2 Željko D. Popović,2 Miloš Petrović,3 Ivana Gadjanski1 1 Center for Biosystems, BioSense Institute, University of Novi Sad; Serbia; 2 Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad; Serbia; 3 Department of Plant and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Novi Sad; Serbia Introduction: Insects have long been an important nutrient source for human consumption worldwide. Given that they are protein-rich, especially their hemolymph, insects represent one of the most promising sustainable solutions to the global problem of protein deficiency due to the growing world population. However, insect proteomes are generally understudied, which is one of the obstacles for insects to be accepted as future food. Therefore, it is very important that insect proteins, as well as hemolymph as their primary source, be well characterized. The first step would be to elaborate their biological functions and potential biotoxicity, so here the effect of hemolymph from Tenebrio molitor and Zophobas morio larvae on MRC-5 cell viability was investigated. Methods: Hemolymph was collected from T. molitor and Z. morio larvae, hemocytes were removed and the concentration of total hemolymph proteins was determined by Bradford assay. Next, MRC-5 cells were treated with different hemolymph concentrations. Finally, the effect of hemolymph on the viability of MRC-5 cells after 48h was examined by MTT assay. Results: Obtained results showed that T. molitor hemolymph had no negative effect on MRC-5 cell viability after 48h regardless of concentration, while only the highest concentration of Z. morio hemolymph slightly decreased cell viability after 48h. Conclusion: Given that all tested concentrations of T. molitor hemolymph, as well as most concentrations of Z. morio hemolymph, had no cytotoxic effect on MRC-5 cells as a model of normometabolic human cells, they could be used in further research as a source of potential alternative proteins. Key words: insects; hemolymph; cell viability; alternative proteins; future food Acknowledgements: This study was supported by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, grant nos. 451-03-47/2023-01/200358, 451-03-47/2023-01/200125 and 451-03-47/2023-01/200117, MSCA-RISE H2020 project IPANEMA grant agreement no. 872662 and European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 739570 (ANTARES).