DPRX (divergent-paired related homeobox) is a PRD-like homeobox transcription factor that functions as a transcriptional repressor during human embryonic development 1. The gene plays a critical role in the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT) during early human preimplantation development, where its deficiency severely impairs MZT and lineage specification 2. DPRX acts as part of a two-stage regulatory model of human embryo genome activation, serving as a balancing transcriptional repressor at the 8-cell stage, following the earlier activation by LEUTX at the 4-cell stage 1. The gene is expressed during human preimplantation development and is transcribed during the transition from four- to eight-cell stage 3. DPRX deficiency leads to aberrant retention of histone acetylation and contributes to cleavage-stage embryonic arrest, though this can be partially rescued by reversing the acetylation retention 2. Notably, DPRX has been lost in the mouse lineage during evolution, making it a human-specific contributor to early embryonic development 4. The gene can also be involved in oncogenic fusions in thyroid cancer, where TG::DPRX fusions drive aberrant DPRX overexpression 5.