In the progress of retinal angiogenesis, sprouting angiogenesis plays an important role in retinal normal development and neovascular diseases. The structural and functional integrities of vascular endothelial cells are essential condition of sprouting angiogenesis. Vascular endothelial cells possess various subtypes, each of which plays a different role in sprouting angiogenesis. Many mechanisms participate in the regulation of endothelial cells under physiological and pathological conditions, such as biological signaling pathway, metabolism, immune inflammation and non-coding RNA. In this review, we provided a brief overview of the role and the related regulatory mechanisms of vascular endothelial cells in retinal sprouting angiogenesis.