Final answer:
The process in which one activated receptor leads to thousands of final products is called signal amplification, and it is further intensified through enzymatic cascades in a signal transduction cascade. Diverse cellular responses are achieved through variations in protein expression and signal integration, where multiple pathways can converge.
Step-by-step explanation:
The process in which one activated receptor can give rise to thousands of final products is known as signal amplification. This occurs when each member of a signaling pathway activates thousands of the subsequent member in the pathway. A very large response can be generated from a single receptor binding a ligand because the signal is amplified at each step.
Furthermore, these effects can be intensified by enzymatic cascades. When a ligand binds to a receptor, the activation of a receptor-linked enzyme can activate many copies of a signaling component, amplifying the signal even further. Such a chain of events, which is triggered by the ligand-receptor interaction, is called a signal transduction cascade.
Different cell types can have varying responses to the same ligand due to differences in protein expression. A single pathway can branch off toward different outcomes based on the interplay between multiple signaling pathways. This branching can be compounded by signal integration, where signals from multiple cell-surface receptors converge to initiate the same response within the cell.